Return to: Outline Chronology of Japanese Cultural History
This page: Tokugawa Era Events
Also see: Tokugawa Imperial Reigns, Shogunal Reigns, and Interesting People.

Disclaimer: This chronology is intended to provide easy access to the contexts of various events,
not to provide in-depth interpretations. Topical organization is arbitrary. Names are in Japanese
order.  Note that for dates prior to 1873.1.1, months of Japanese events are on lunar calendar (with
approximate year only converted to Western), Western dates are in Western calendar.  A 'b' next
to the month refers to a leap-month according to the lunar calendar.
 

Terminology of Social Hierarchy
The Four Peoples: Shi-n™-k™-sh™ (Žm”_H¤): caste ranking of warriors, farmers, artisans, merchants
     = in legal terms, the rankings (status? caste?) took the following order {Howland 2001}:
Shogun («ŒR): Supreme military leader
     Bakufu (lit., tent government: Dynastic rule by Tokugawa family, lasted 15 generations)
     Daimy™ ‘å–¼ (feudal domain chiefs, subordinate only to the bakufu) included:
          Gosanke (The three domainal houses [Owari, Kii, Mito] closest to Tokugawa power)
          Toshiyori (lit., elders): daimy™ who were close advisors to bakufu
          Kamon: daimy™ of Tokugawa family (held approx. 25% of total land yield)
          Shinpan: daimy™ members of Tokugawa family and its branches
          Fudai: daimyo considered vassals of Tokugawa (shinpan + fudai held 36% of total land yield)
               Roojuu: 4 or 5 councillors appointed from fudai
          Tozama: daimyoo who were not close to Tokugawa (held 40% of land yield)
     note:
          Sankin kootai (daimyoo must leave family as political hostages while away from Edo)
          Daimyo gyooretsu (processions to and from Edo)
                 = large processional entourages stimulate vast economy along highways
          Complex salary system engendered competition for bureaucratic offices
          Central government had no direct control over districts
          Five grades of daimyoo, based on military size:
               Kumimochi (18 total): included Satsuma, Chooshuu, Tosa, Hizen, Echizen
Emperor and courtiers (‰Ų‘°):
          Kuge (court nobles): approximately 150 families
          Kanpaku: filled by members of top five Fujiwara families
          Dajoo-daijin (chancellor): filled by members of next nine houses, including Sanjoo
          next five ranks: included Saga, Iwakura
Samurai (retainer) caste divided into upper (ćŽm‘°) and lower (‰ŗŽm‘°): totalled 5-6% of population
     ranks: hatamoto, kootai-yoriai, yoriai, gokenin, hirazamurai, heishi, ashigaru, baishin, gooshi,
          Hatamoto: Tokugawa retainers just below rank of daimyo
          Metsuke: inspectors, to keep watch over government
          Roonin: 'masterless' samurai: lacked automatic income
     = Tokugawa-affiliated retainers were spread thin, but Satsuma and Chooshuu had high rel. pop.
Priests: Doctors and teachers are often included within this grouping.
Peasant class:
     Goonoo: rich peasants
     Titled peasants; branch houses; dependents; tenants; co-residents; servants;
     = Taxes were assessed at village level by village headmen
Townsmen: artisans were theoretically superior to merchants
Outcastes (kawata/eta):
    kawata traditionally were associated with leather-work, policing, etc.
         = in cities, residences often were interspersed with townsmen population {Hatanaka}
    eta were traditionally associated with cadaver-related work, etc.
         = city/country residences tended to cluster into ghettos, cut off from general population
Non-persons (hinin):
    included prostitutes, beggars, itinerants, other ostracized people
= Within family groups of all the above categories, the hierarchical Confucian relations applied:
    parent-over-child; husband-over-wife; lord-over-servant; elder-over-younger sibling;
= From Peasants down, note Gonin-gumi ŒÜl‘g (five-family social responsibility groups):
    if one was found guilty, all were punished
= It was sometimes possible to break ranks: e.g., for special service, peasants granted right to wear swords;
    but inter-mobility or intermarriage was minimal
= Legal status was often at odds with economic status (class): e.g., rich merchants v. poor samurai

Miscellaneous, Frequently-Encountered Terminology
Sakoku (Closed-country policy; allowed limited trade with Dutch, and with Asian areas)
Edo (Central port city of Tokugawa political power, now Tokyo)
Osaka (Port city west of Tokyo, known for development of merchant autonomy)
Genroku Period (1688-1704: flowering of merchant culture, decadence)
Yoshiwara (in Edo: one of several regulated prostitution districts)

Daimyo Life: Hostage to Edo
    = note great variation in size of domains, and relative autonomy: each developed its own style of governance:
    = ie s™d™ (in-house coups): competition/unrest between vassals; quells somewhat after 1700.
1609-1868 Sankin k™tai (daimy™ family hostage exchange) system
     1609 Hidetada notifies tozama that they should spend winters in Edo.
     1634 Iemitsu orders tozama wives and children to stay in Edo.
     1635 Iemitsu issues detailed schedules for daimy™ visits to Edo.

Samurai Life: Idealization of Caste Role
     = Samurai taught to live by confucian idealization of social relations: lord-vassal, parent-child, ...
     = Death in battle was glorified; suicide rituals as a measure of protest
     = Samurai were supposed to be exemplars of moral behavior; no display of emotion; ascetic life;
     = Frequent fights between samurai; Samurai women were taught how to wash severed heads
     = Bunbu-ry™d™ (•¶•—¼“¹): for samurai, the double-way of literary arts and martial arts
     = Kiri-sute gomen: samurai may freely cut down non-samurai who are rude to them
     = Received salaries from taxes paid by peasants to daimyoo
     = Low salaries forced many low-level samurai into private trades, farming, etc.
1663 Law against junshi (suicide following death of master)

Peasant Life: Agrarian Hardships
    = Land-tilling rights (k™sakuken) granted, but peasants could not buy or sell land
    = Taxation systems organized within each daimy™: averaged around 40% of agrarian production {Kamei H}
    = Lands ranked in terms of fertility, water supply, etc.
    = Villages taxed as units: entire units would bear the burden of individual slackers

Assorted Tokugawa Laws, Economic Reforms, Sumptuary Rules
Very high capital punishment rate
Examples of punishments {Leupp 76}
     = for killing one's master: expose for two days in public, then saw off head and display headless corpse
     = for striking or wounding master or former master: death
     = parade in public for one day, for...
?? Laws against travel without passport for more than three days  (runaways = kakeochi):
     = punishment for runaways is erasure from register (choomenhazushi)
     = laws against harboring runaways at inns, houses...
     = banta: a town guard to keep out runaways and undesirables
     = runaways could still live on main highways, as beggars, thieves, etc.
1642 village conduct stipulated (goningumi) in response to famine/protests
     = goningumi: five-family social responsibility groups: if one is guilty, all are punished
     = merchants could not live in villages; no wage labor; no land seizure;
1643 Sale of land in perpetuity is forbidden
1690s~ Laws against abandoning cows and dogs, hitting dogs, harming animals and nests, etc...
1702.2, 1703.1, 1705.1, 1705.4b Repeated injunctions against gambling.
?-1705 Silk must not be worn by peasants or townsmen {Naramoto 10}
?-1705 Meals served at ordinary meetings must not exceed 1 soup and 3 dishes. {Naramoto 10}
?-1705 Forbidden to walk around town after dark {Naramoto 10}
1682 Tsunayoshi sets laws to raise morality: ban on prostitution; ban on employing waitresses in teahouses, limit on fabric prices; ban on foreign luxury imports {Sansom, III:133}
1688-1704 Genroku period: frequent economy edicts from government {Sansom, III:151}
c.1705 (response to nukemairi) Any stranger housed overnight must be reported
1722 Censorship laws forbid mention of samurai families
1724 limitations on private expenditures on ceremonies, clothing, household furnishings; gold thread in daimyo wive's clothing; female servants wear simple clothing appropriate to position; no expensive lacquers, no fine nightdresses...;
1727-1728 Ky™h™ Reforms (under Yoshimune): to improve bakufu fiscal condition
c.1800 Reforms (Matsudaira Sadanobu): forbade barbers, betting, prostitutes, mixed bathing...

National Census
1726 Total population of archipelago recorded as 26,550,000 people.
 

1600 Tokugawa Ieyasu Consolidates Power
1603 Ieyasu is appointed shoogun
1615 Osaka Castle falls in second siege: Tokugawa rule consolidated
1615? Buke shohatto
1635 Sankin-kootai hostage system enacted
 
  1570-1630 Economic Boom:
    = increased efficiency of transportation, mining, farming, etc.
          = factors led to increased rural working population, working hours, (Totman 61)
          = village heads given responsibility to balance peace and taxes.
    = increased rural output enabled urban growth
          = workers conscripted from rural areas for all kinds of projects;
          = huge logging, canal, and road projects
    = castle-building is curbed; no new castles after 1630
    = after 1630, government control over economy is loosened;

Buddhism:
1608 Ieyasu issues seven-clause code for Enryakuji (on Hieizan).
1614 Ieyasu tries to quell conflicts by distributing Daiz?ichiransh?as doctrine.
1600-1665 Eradication of Fujufuse sect of Hokke Buddhism
     1600, 1630 had been suppressed
     1663 main Hokke sect requests that Fujufuse be eradicated
     1665 government cracks down
 = general attacks on Buddhism
 = Shinto closely controlled; promotion and regulation of Yoshida Shinto

Christianity
      = Christianity seen as threat to established social order
      = Fumi-e: suspected Christians forced to tread of picture of Christ as proof of non-Christianity
1587 partial ban on Christianity
1614 ban on Christianity extended nationwide
1657 Christian group discovered in Nagasaki; many tortured and killed
1660s other Christian groups meet same fate
1664 Edo commands all daimyo to register people at shrines, to rid Christians

Popular Culture
1603 Izumo dancer Okuni does folk dances in Kyoto: starts trend of onna-kabuki.
1608 WomenÕs troupe in Sunpu starts brawl: Ieyasu relocates them with prostitutes.
1617 Brothel operators in Edo are moved to Yoshiwara.
1629 bakufu forbids women from performing kabuki.
1629 Brothel district in Osaka:
1641 Brothel district in Kyoto:

Economic Growth after 1630s
     = growing local autonomy and economic freedoms encourage capitalism
1680 increasing calls by merchants for protections of monopolies
1720 bakufu recognizes merchant guild control of economic matters
     = Totman (p102) calls this ŌfascismÕ
     = elaborate ideology arose to justify increasingly anachronistic political order.

Famines, Earthquakes, Fires
1586.01? Miyako, Sakai earthquake
1616.08.30 Edo earthquake
1618.11.7 earthquake recorded in Richard Cocks diary
1630s-1640s (peak 1641-1642) KanÕei Famine: see Shimabara Rebellion
1657 Great Meireki Fire of Edo, razed 60-70% of city, and much of the castle
1662 Major earthquakes over many areas, cause vast destruction.
1683.05.24-25 Nikko earthquake destroys Tooshoogu (shrine to Ieyasu)
1721 crop failure
1729 Abundant harvests cause drop in rice prices; samurai buying-power falls

Peasant Rebellions
1600-1868: several thousand small-scale uprisings by oppressed peasantry throughout Japan.
     = Uchi-kowashi (bust-it-down): hamlet peasants would attack local tax-rice collector (tonya).
1637-1638 Shimabara rebellion: during Kan'ei Famine
     = Shimabara people particularly resented religious persecution.
     = unable to take castle, embarrassed bakufu starves them out instead

Improvements in living standards spread slowly from cities
mixed grains to white rice; muddy rice-wine (doburoku) to fine sake; miso; musiro/komo straw sleeping mats replaced by futon; opaque doors to translucent papered doors (sh™ji); suspended ceilings; tatami floor mats; mosquito nets (kaya); 1690s-1700s fad for gambling (supressed);

Ronin Issues
 1650 Yui Shoosetsu organizes rebellion: crushed 1651-1652.
 1650-1850 programs to employ ronin mitigate unrest

Buraku/Eta Issues
1590 Ieyasu chooses Danzaemon (the first) to be leader over Kanto-region eta population {Fowler}
1719, 1725 Danzaemon VI presents affadavit tracing his lineage back to Kamakura period
     = in response to challenges by Edo eta leader Kuruma Zenshichi

Health Issues
---Cholera: 1817 first major outbreak in India
1822 First outbreak in Japan: known as ŌkororiÕ
---Smallpox:
1870s Morse notes large population blinded by smallpox

Nukemairi: Spontaneous Mass Religious Pilgrimages (usu. to Ise Shrine)
1615: (Naramoto 10)
1651:
1705: 3,620,000 pilgrims, over 2 months,
1771.04-1771.09: 2,700,000 pilgrims, from all but T™hoku (north).
1830.03b-1830.06: 4,860,000 pilgrims,

Histories, Diaries and Records of Current Events
1602-1871 (completed 1898) Nanki Tokugawa shi: History of Wakayama domain. 173 vols.
1690s-1720s: Nishikawa Jyoken, Ch™nin bukuro: merchant diary
1804-1897 Sappa kyžkizatsuroku: History of Satsuma domain from early Heian times. 362 vols.

1600-1750 Early Tokugawa Literary, Philosophical Landmarks
     * see People list for more
Xu xi studies, Ooyoomei studies, Dutch Studies (Rangaku),

Education
    = terakoya: local schools in late Tokugawa, established by priests, samurai, headmen,

Scholastic Academies:
 1630 Hayashi Razan: Shinobugaoka (Edo)
 1648 Kinoshita JunÕan (disc. of Matsunaga Sekigo): ??? (Kyoto)
 1655 Yamazaki Ansai: Kimon (Kyoto)
 ?? Itoo Jinsai: Koogidoo (Kyoto)
 ?? Nakae Tooju: ?? (Lake Biwa)
 ?? Kaibara Ekiken: ?? (Fukuoka)

Social Mobility and Meritocracy:
 = scholarly abilities enabled transcendence of caste categories
 Ronin/sons: Nakae Tooju, Yamaga Sokoo, Yamazaki Ansai
 Former priests: Fujiwara Seika
 Scholar/sons: Matsunaga Sekigo
 Merchant/sons: Itoo Jinsai,

Literary Genre Terms (see People list for more)
Ukiyo (Floating World): the world of 'entertainment' esp. relating to theater and prostitution sectors
Ukiyoe (Pictures of the Floating World): woodblock prints of courtesans, actors, prostitutes, etc.
Gookan (bound volumes):
Kusaz™shi (grassroots stories): popular (non-elite) stories
Bunraku: puppet theater: themes included historical and contemporary events...
     = J™ruri: plays (or librettos) for the puppet theater (bunraku)
     = Kuroko: men in black masks who manipulate the puppets
    1683-1725 Chikamatsu Monzaemon writes plays: performances predominate in Osaka
Kabuki theater: themes included historical drama, contemporary events, romances...
     = all-male casts (in women's roles also): often with elaborate costumes, scenery
    1684-1695 Chikamatsu Monzaemon writes plays: performances predominate in Kyoto
    1830 Kawatake Mokuami, Sannin Kichisa kuruwa no hatsugai:
Dangibon: Buddhist sermon books
    1740-1750 J™kanb™ K™a writings include critiques of samurai
Kokkeibon (humor booklets):
Sharebon (pun books: size 17 x 12 c.) also called kohon (little books);
     = small size perhaps because format was first used for guides to pleasure quarters (Kamei 2000:36)
    1798 Umebori Kokuga, Keiseikai futasujimichi:Ugly but attentive lover better than handsome but conceited...
    1799 Kokuga, Kuruwa no kuse:for realism, refers to characters in Futasujimichi (Kamei 2000:37)
    1800 Kokuga, Yoi no hodo:author appears, mediates between characters of two previous stories (Kamei).
Kiby™shi (yellow-cover booklets):
Aoby™shi (green-cover booklets):
Yomihon (reader books):
Kawaraban (tile-prints): unofficial broadsides printed using clay tiles instead of woodblocks
Kiwamono (timely pieces): docu-fiction of contemporary events
Ninj™bon (emotion books): Love stories, often tragic
    1839 Proliferation of ninj™bon (love stories, i.e., by Shunsui and followers)
    1842 Prohibition of ninj™bon,works by Hirata Atsutane, etc.:
Jitsuroku (records of actual events):
    1771 List of over 100 'forbidden books' published in Kyoto {Huffman 1997:23}

Publication Industry developments, legal issues: {Huffman 1997, Haga 1924}
1633 Iemitsu establishes Goshomotsu bugyoo: office to oversee government-related publications
1649 Nishimura Denpei (Osaka) beheaded for publishing explicit reference to Shogun Iemitsu
1673 law: writers must consult city magistrate (machi bugyoo) before publishing on public matters
1684 law: publication of broadsides forbidden
1686 Shikano Buzaemon (Edo) banished to Izu Oshima for storytelling
1698 Edo booksellers allowed to form guild: trading censorship for cartel rights
     1721 govt coerces booksellers to form guilds
     1722 publishing guilds required to censor publications
     late 1700s? explicit laws hold guilds officially responsible for censorship violations
1710 over six hundred publishers and booksellers in Japan {Huffman 1997:24}
1722 detailed censorship laws protect privacy of powerful families
1735 permission granted to mention the shogun's name (but not critically)
1787-93 Kansei Reforms of Matsudaira Sadanobu include publication prohibitions
     = decline of sharebon, rise of kokkeibon, ninjobon, depicting life and language of entertainment districts.
     = kokkeibon: Shikitei Sanba, Ukiyodoko, etc.
     1790 law forbids publication or lending of shahon (written in kana) based on 'rumors'
1807 Takizawa Bakin, Santoo Kyooden forced to promise to publish only morally instructive stories
1810~ Lending libraries proliferate (300 in Osaka, 600 in Edo). Mobile book-lenders, too.
1811 Bureau for Translation of Barbarian Writings (Bansho wa-kai goyoogakari) established
     1855 renamed Institute for Western Studies (Yoogakujo)

Oorai-mono: readers for terakoya schoolchildren, etc.:
      = word lists, dictionaries, lists of poems, songs, letter-writing patterns, books for teaching women, etc.:
15-??: Teikun ™rai: textbook, precedent for others.
1729 (not Kaibara Ekiken) Onna daigaku: feudalistic guide to proper women's behavior.
1766 (reprints thru 1830) Hyakush?™rai h™nenz?guide to farmer vocabulary.
18-?? Sh™bai ™rai: guide to merchant vocabulary.
1847 Higashizato Sanjin, T™kaid?meisho ™rai: guide to T™kaid?place names.
187-? Sekai sh™bai ™rai: guide to consumer products imported from West.

Media-stimulated Events:
      = ie-soodoo: incidents of disruption within daimyo houses
      = ojigataki: role, in kabuki, of bad uncle in ie-soodoo (house incident)
1632 Kuroda Incident: Kuriyama Daizen
???? Sakura Soogoroo: from Sakura-han (Shimofusa)
    = appealed directly to Bakufu to oppose heavy peasant taxes; executed
1671 Date Incident (Sendai):
    1777 Meiboku sendai hagi: Kabuki period piece, based on Date Uprising;
        = 1785 made into jooruri by Matsu Kanshi, Yoshida Kadomaru
    1778 Sakurada Naosuke, Datekurabe okuni kabuki: play based on Date Uprising, set in "Ooninki"
    1876 Kawatake Mokuami, Jitsuroku sendai hagi: kabuki period piece based on Date Incident
1702.12.14 Akoo Incident: 47 roonin vengeance incident
    1701.03 Asano injures Yoshinaka, is ordered to commit suicide.
    = attack Takuminokami Naganori at residence of Koozuke-no-suke Yoshinaka
    = basis for Chuushingura tales
Yoshidaya ie-soodoo
    1817 Tsuruya Namboku IV, Sakurahime Azuma bunshoo: kabuki sewamono, based on Yoshidaya Incident
    1854 Kawatake Mokuami, Miyakodori nagane no siranami: play based on Yoshidaya incident
Kaga Incident:
    1782 Kagamiyama kokyoo no nishiki-e: jooruri, based on Kaga Incident and Matsudaira revenge killing.
Okada Seidan
    = Okada Tadasuke (1677-1751) "bugyoo": held trials in Edo...
    = stories about these trials
    = narration style was influenced by Ming stories (Lung-do gong-an?)
Shibaya ie-soodoo
    1832 Shooutsushi asagao banashi: based on Shibaya incident
Miscellaneous Docu-fiction:
    1775 Koi musume mukashi hachijoo: kabuki sewamono, based on ??- incident
    1806 Santoo Kyooden (text), Utagawa Toyokuni (illust), Inazuma byooshi:
        = based on Keiseihangonkoo; and on Yamatokuni ie-soodoo;
1815 Ogasawara Incident:
1836 Kamo Uprising: in Koromo (Mikawa)
    = documented in Kamo sooritsu.
Chinese books on Western science and culture in Bakumatsu:
 1794-1857 Wei Yuan
  Hai guo tu zhi (Illustrated Treatise on Maritime Kingdoms)
 1795-1873 Xu Jishe
  Ying huan zhi lue (Introduction to Western Geography)

Architecture
1583 Osaka Castle construction begins (under Hideyoshi)
1620-1662 Katsura Detached Palace constructed
1625 Hidetada builds KanÕeiji in Edo
1636 Nikkoo Tooshoogu: shrine to Ieyasu:
1620s-1650s Memorial buildings (t™sh™gu) to Ieyasu built all over Japan

Japanese Technological, Industrial Phenomena during Tokugawa
1540-1700 Mines opened for gold, silver, copper; sophisticated divisions of labor
     = late 1500s-early 1600s: depletion of precious metals to West
1551 Jesuit Francis Xavier introduces mechanical clock
1580~ Treadle-operated loom brought from China to Sakai
1590 Construction started on water-supply system in Edo
1601 Gold and silver mines opened on Sado Island
1615-23 Korean potter ??Li San-pei discovers fine porcelain clay in Arita (near Nagasaki)
1634-1854 Dutch traders allowed port at Deshima Island (off Nagasaki): make 116 processions to Edo.
1650s~ Fine painted porcelains go into production.
1709 Arai Hakuseki interrogates Sidotti, an Italian Jesuit who sneaked in.
1716 Kyoohoo reforms relaxed restrictions of technological imports.
1720s Sh™gun Yoshimune allows scholars access to Dutch learning, to study calendar, etc.
1770 Scholar Maeno Ry™taku is allowed to study directly with Dutch interpreters.
1770~ Hiraga Gennai reproduces static electricity generator following Dutch sources.
1771 Sugita Gempaku witnesses dissection of human cadaver, proving Dutch anatomy book correct.
1810s~ Seto (near Nagoya) reemerges as center of Japanese porcelain industry.
1811 Translation bureau for Dutch texts set up within the Bureau of Astronomy.
1830~ Cotton plant strains bred in wide variety (approx 50).
1840~ Dutch thermometers used to monitor silkworm raising.
1844 Survey of Osaka ships includes 151 ships total; 120 over 1,400-koku; max 1,900-koku (Ishii Kenji)
1860~ Silkworm varieties (200?) far more diversified than in France
also: developments in brewing, automata, carpentry, porcelain, paper,
 

Contact with the West fuels International Ambitions
      = until 1800s, Malay was the common trading language of E.Asians, Japanese, Dutch
1580~ Portugese galleons annually ship 20,000 kilos of silver out of Japan.
1580-1630: depletion of precious metals to West
1600 Dutch ship runs aground, Captain Jacob Quaeckernaeck
     = claims some countries wonÕt send missionaries
1604-5 missionary-daimyo problems prompt Ieyasu to forbid use of large ships
1605 Ieyasu sends Quaeckernaeck to S.E.Asia to encourage Dutch-J. trade;
1606 Dutch ships arrive; establish J-Netherlands trade relations;
1607 Edo/Seoul peace negotiations; 1611 trade resumed via Pusan
1609 Shimazu of Satsuma invades Ryukyu islands
     = soon after, Ieyasu forbids use of large ships
1610 Chinese traders come to Nagasaki: silk for silver
     = by 1620s in Nagasaki, Chinese population from 2,000 to 3,000.
1615-1625 outflow of silver approx 130,000-150,000 kilograms
1614 edicts expelling Jesuit missionaries;
1616 a merchant organizes flotilla to conquer Taiwan; they go on looting rampage;
1623-1630s Bakufu gradually limits avenues of trade:
1623 English stop trade with Japan (no profit)
1624 Bakufu stops trade with Spanish
1627 Manchu army tries to attack Ming; attacks pro-Ming Seoul.
1628 Spanish galleon plunders Japanese ship in Gulf of Siam
1630s Portugese stopped from trading
1630s Japanese stopped from trading with outside; from travelling abroad
1630s-1850s trade continues only via Chinese, Dutch, Korean ships
     = nanban painting no longer brought in; dangerous to own;
1630 Japanese seamen tangle with Dutch near Taiwan
1633 Iemitsu prohibits Japanese from travelling overseas from Nagasaki.
1634-1635 Portugese movement further prohibited
1635 Buke shotatto kaitei: revised laws stipulate no ships over 500-koku
     1638 Interpretation: ban on large ships does not apply to merchant vessels.
1636 Deshima construction completed; Portugese must thenceforth reside there.
1636 Manchu army second invasion of Korea; forces Yi Dynasty into submission.
1637-1638 Shimabara Rebellion in Kumamoto (in west Kyushu) includes Christians. Squashed.
1637 Iemitsu, egged on by Dutch, almost mounts attack on Spaniards in Manila.
1639 Sakoku Policy: Westerners prohibited from entering Japanese waters:
     = Portugese expelled from Deshima
1640 (41?) Dutch ordered to live and conduct business from Dejima:
     = Dutch 'factory' moved from Hirado to Deshima
1642-43 Portugese missionary groups attempt infiltration; are crushed;
1644 Manchus drive Ming out of Peking.
1645 Iemitsu vacillates over whether to send assistance, until it is too late.
1647 Iemitsu decides to stay clear of Ming-Manchu struggle
     = Foreigners hardly let in; now Japan will not go outside: sakoku policy complete.
1676 bakufu allows limited support to anti-Manchu forces.
1716 Kyoohoo reforms relaxed restrictions of technological imports.
1735 Dutch council considers withdrawing ships from Japan {Screech}
1750~ Arita pocelain becomes major export to Dutch merchants
1780s? Hayashi Shihei jailed for advocating improved national military defenses
1796 Scholars finish compiling Dutch-J dictionary. Revised thru 1833. Publication allowed 1855.
1808.10 British ship Phaeton lands at Nagasaki using Dutch flag, but departs immediately
1811 Russian ship Diana crew arrested by Japan during survey of Kuriles
1813 British take Java, try unsuccessfully to open trade with Japan
1837 American ship Morrison unsuccessfully tries to return stranded Japanese fishermen
1846 US ships Vincesses and Columbus try unsuccessfully to open diplomatic relations
1849 British ship Mariner tries unsuccessfully to open diplomatic relations

add:  Foreign trade
 1660s peak: imports of silk; exports of silver and copper
 1700+ domestic yarn displaces imports
 late 1600s silver supply dwindles; copper exports continue
 1687 Dutch warn of Jesuits in Peking; Bakufu builds wall in Nagasaki to segr. Chinese.
 1690s Miyazaki Antei urges domestic production to lessen metal exports
 1700 (Totman) foreign trade less than 1.5% of domestic agrarian production

Contact with Ainu spurs new fashions
Ainu fashions, words popular in late Edo (Ootsuka Kazuyoshi, Kokuritsu Minzoku Hakubutsukan).
     = rakko (sea otter), konbu (kelp), glass spheres, wood carvings,
     = "Ezo nishiki" Chinese woven festival decorations entered Japan via Ainu.
Tenjiku Tokubei (1804, kabuki drama) wears popular, hardy Ainu "atsushi" clothing.
Hakkenden (Takizawa Bakin, 1814-41) uses Ainu myth of dog-ancestors
1789 Ainu uprising in east Hokkaido.

Meanwhile, Japan watches China
1644 Manchurian (ChÕing Dynasty) conquest of China. Replaces Ming (1368-1644) Dynasty.
1660s~ Kogaku (Ancient Studies) scholars promote Neo-confucianism: Yamaga Sok? It?Jinsai...
1683 Manchu control complete: Japanese differentiate between Chinese culture and body-politic.
1750s~ Kokugaku (National Studies) scholars reject Chinese domination of Japanese ideology.
Kamo Mabuchi, Motoori Norinaga,
1780s~ Some Japanese still fear Manchus might attempt to conquer Japan.
1839-42 Opium War: Ideas of Chinese superiority are discredited--the new threat is from the West.
1850-64 TÕai PÕing Rebellion

Bizarre miscellany
1720 Elephant brought from Vietnam, given fourth imperial rank to have audience with Emperor.